Forest area in United Kingdom
United Kingdom: Forest area was 32,154 sq. km in 2023. ▲ Rising
Forest area in United Kingdom, 1990–2023
Source: FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Measured in sq. km.
Analysis
United Kingdom recorded 32,154 sq. km for forest area in 2023. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.3% on the previous year and up 3.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, forest area in United Kingdom peaked at 32,154 sq. km in 2023 and was at its lowest, 27,780 sq. km, in 1990.
That places United Kingdom 88th out of 214 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 28,572 sq. km | 27,780 sq. km | 29,364 sq. km | 10 |
| 2000s | 30,012 sq. km | 29,540 sq. km | 30,485 sq. km | 10 |
| 2010s | 31,320 sq. km | 30,590 sq. km | 31,820 sq. km | 10 |
| 2020s | 32,027 sq. km | 31,900 sq. km | 32,154 sq. km | 4 |
Countries ranked near United Kingdom
More agriculture & rural data for United Kingdom
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.4% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.1% (2025)
- Rural population 16.7% (2025)
- Rural population growth -0.2% (2025)
- Rural population 11.59 million (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 0.6% (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 25.62 billion current US$ (2025)
- Land under cereal production 3.09 million hectares (2023)
- Cereal yield 7,138 kg per hectare (2023)
- Cereal production 22.05 million metric tons (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is forest area in United Kingdom?
- Forest area in United Kingdom was 32,154 sq. km in 2023, according to FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
- What is the highest forest area recorded in United Kingdom?
- The highest recorded value was 32,154 sq. km in 2023.
- What is the lowest forest area recorded in United Kingdom?
- The lowest recorded value was 27,780 sq. km in 1990.
- How does United Kingdom rank for forest area?
- United Kingdom ranks 88th out of 214 countries with data for 2023.
- Is forest area rising or falling in United Kingdom?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United Kingdom data come from?
- The figures come from FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), published as part of Forest area (sq. km). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Forest area is land under natural or planted stands of trees of at least 5 meters in situ, whether productive or not, and excludes tree stands in agricultural production systems (for example, in fruit plantations and agroforestry systems) and trees in urban parks and gardens.